And it's what we learned to "keyboard" on. Yes, the school's "Typing" class became the "Keyboarding" class in 1982, as they knew computer skills would be needed in the coming years. But there is no sound to compare with 21 IBM Selectrics simultaneously responding as the teacher calls out characters to the class... "B" THUMP! "A" THUMP! "Space" THUMP!

downstairs:nytmare: Some of those keyboards are nearly, but not quite, the same as the current QWERTY layout. Like the first popular one has the X and C switched, and the M moved. YOU INVENTED IT WRONG.

One of them also has the W where the Z is now.

Sounds like a french keyboard, which have always used the AZERTY layout.

I thought the Mignon was a beautiful cludge to simplify things. The mechanism appears to be something like a cross between a pantograph and a rack and pinion gear.

Why do we occasionally expect the left hand to be dexterous when inventing things? Guitars want you to be quick and delicate with the left hand and have just rhythm with the right. The Mignon typewriter does pretty much the same thing.

I just recently recycled the Brother electric I bought in college. I switched to word processing and "near letter quality" printing before graduating. I couldn't remember the last time I used it. It was just gathering dust in the closet.

As an IBM Selectic repairman AND an instructor/trainer how do you think I feel?

/II was the best//the wizard of avis was the worst abomiination of a Selectric///nothing was ever worse than a xerox diablo based system (you know what diablo means right?)////Still have my tools and my BALLS

MarkMartinFan:brapWhen we got an IBM Selectric we were really styling.

Christ I feel like a geezer.

As an IBM Selectic repairman AND an instructor/trainer how do you think I feel?

/II was the best//the wizard of avis was the worst abomiination of a Selectric///nothing was ever worse than a xerox diablo based system (you know what diablo means right?)////Still have my tools and my BALLS

My brother had one of the Olivetti Valentine's, exactly like the one in the article. The whole thing dropped into a briefcase housing and secured with two big rubber hooks IIRC.He lost it a few years ago.

And it's what we learned to "keyboard" on. Yes, the school's "Typing" class became the "Keyboarding" class in 1982, as they knew computer skills would be needed in the coming years. But there is no sound to compare with 21 IBM Selectrics simultaneously responding as the teacher calls out characters to the class... "B" THUMP! "A" THUMP! "Space" THUMP!

And, as an excellent example of mid-century style, it's a winner!

//officially old now.

Yes, this was the machine I learned to type on, and I fondly remember the noise of all of us following the teacher's commands.

And it's what we learned to "keyboard" on. Yes, the school's "Typing" class became the "Keyboarding" class in 1982, as they knew computer skills would be needed in the coming years. But there is no sound to compare with 21 IBM Selectrics simultaneously responding as the teacher calls out characters to the class... "B" THUMP! "A" THUMP! "Space" THUMP!

And, as an excellent example of mid-century style, it's a winner!

//officially old now.

I'm with you. I loved the IBM Selectric - that, too, is on what I learned to type. I also remember "the box," the fitted cover that allowed your hands to operate the keyboard, but didn't allow you to see your hands, to reinforce muscle memory and stop the annoying habit of looking at your hands while you type.

For the first couple of years after I graduated, I made my living in part by typing. Try being a 19-year-old straight male admin assistant, typing away at 90+ wpm, in an office full of older women - at more than one gig, I would end up on occasion with a bemused group of biddies around my desk.

Seeking:- Rooy portable- SCM Super G- Tom Thumb 1641- Royal 10 (glass-sider)- Royal Fleetwood (mostly for the novelty)- Hermes 3000 (Old-timers tell me it's one of the best typers ever, so I must find out for myself.)- Olivetti-Underwood Lettera 32 (My old one died, and it's probably the best typer I've ever used.)

Still looking for a Selectric II. I could pay a fair amount for one, but I know somewhere there's a closet full of them. For writing first drafts of stories, there's nothing that is as gratifying as seeing your real hard copy book rolling out with every slam of the return key.

Learned on a Smith-Corona portable (don't know the model#). Taught in school on a Selectric and Selectric II. Bought and used in high school a Brother and Panasonic Daisy-Wheel. Broke down and bought an Apple Mac something or other in 1996. Dayum, I miss my typewriters!

It's hard to explain, I guess. I don't even remember clearly how it started, or why it started when it did, which was more than a few years ago. In truth, it started when I was much younger, and had a Royal KMM that went missing many years ago. I'd used a profusion of typewriters through the years, but it's only much more recently that I've gone back to my roots with manuals, and I never owned portables before -- but the vast majority of my collection is manual portables.

At some point, I realised that manual typewriters were disappearing, and there are only a few ways to preserve them. Besides being cleaned up, fixed up, and safely stored, they also have to be used in order to stay in working condition, or they start to bind up. So in order to preserve them, I have to exactly that: use them. Using this many typewriters is not easy. I have to rotate them, and because some are in storage, I have to rotate them in and out of there, too. I use them to write letters to people and address envelopes, and try to keep them in rotation. Some are better for some uses than others. The Cursive is great for addressing Christmas cards, but not a whole lot else. But the Olympia DeLuxe gives a serious look to official correspondence. (I'm pretty sure the font was chosen for actuarial use, but I'm not sure. It looks serious and German.) Most of the ones on my list are scholastic-grade typewriters, favoured by college students and homemakers for general use. The '12' designation on some of them refers to a 12"-wide carriage, which allows standard letter-size paper to go in sideways (popular last century for some kinds of work, such as accounting or other matrices). The Royal 440 was a training typewriter, used to teach typing classes. The Underwood Leader is the kind of machine someone like Radar O'Reilly likely used. (I think he actually uses an upright in the show, but I suspect that may not be accurate for a 'mobile' unit like the one he served in.) It's short on features, but very rugged and reliable, with great action, and usable in its own rugged, easily-closeable box. Perfect for the busy company clerk on the move.

The Rooy portable is the world's smallest portable manual typewriter, self-boxing in a metal case with a self-concealing handle -- the laptop of the '50s. Only a small number were made in the 1950s, in France, and they are very hard to find. I can't even estimate what it's worth, or what I should be ready to pay for one if I ever get the chance. But it's among the few typewriters I'd pay to have new parts fabricated for if it was necessary.

The Super G was designed by Kharman Ghia, and has a sexy 'flight shell' case with a kind of racing stripe. It was sold only in a bright European aquamarine, and I believe even includes an extensible luggage handle. Designed for late '60s jet-setters. Yeah, baby!

The Tom Thumb was sold as a kid's toy typewriter, but over-engineered to the extent that it's actually superior to many 'grown-up' typewriters. This one appeals to me mainly for the novelty, I admit.

The Royal 10 is one of the more attractive early desktops, with large glass plates on the sides. Many had fine decorative tooling, too (a trait of some early typewriters).

The Fleetwood is just weird, and I love weird things like this. The carriage top is boxy, shaped like a Kleenex dispenser, completely covered in faux woodgrain, and has a transistor radio hidden inside.

There's another reason I do this, too. A typewritten letter is only short of a handwritten letter, in the intimacy it brings to correspondence. You know when you hold it in your hand that each letter was personally put there by hand of the writer, rather than by a computer, that the typesetting is exactly as it was done on the first and only draft. Like handwriting, typewriting forces you to compose in your head, because it's hard to go back, and the greater the change the harder it is to do. Want to insert a new paragraph between two others? Too bad. This kind of writing engages the writer much more directly than word processing. A typewritten letter is therefore a lot more personal and immediate than a word-processed one. Finally, my handwriting is crap. It was ruined over a the years by lots of manual labour, because strength and dexterity typically trade off with each other. Typewriting lets me write a personal letter that's actually readable.

I saw a pink Royal Futura in a thrift store last year. Original case, relatively mint condition, with original receipt and other goodies tucked inside. No price on it that day, and I meant to go back the next day and offer them ten bucks, but it was gone...

I have (or had - gave away the 440) all of those except the KHM and no electronicsA lot of them are "portable" only in the sense that they have a case with a handle.

Seeking:- Rooy portable - good luck - I got to type on one in Geneva- SCM Super G - watch shopgoodwill.com, they come up regularly- Tom Thumb 1641 - these too on rare occasions- Royal 10 (glass-sider) - got one- Royal Fleetwood (mostly for the novelty) - keep looking- Hermes 3000 (Old-timers tell me it's one of the best typers ever, so I must find out for myself.) - Yep It's still my favorite- Olivetti-Underwood Lettera 32 (My old one died, and it's probably the best typer I've ever used.) - agreed, top five for sure

I have (or had - gave away the 440) all of those except the KHM and no electronicsA lot of them are "portable" only in the sense that they have a case with a handle.

Seeking:- Rooy portable - good luck - I got to type on one in Geneva- SCM Super G - watch shopgoodwill.com, they come up regularly- Tom Thumb 1641 - these too on rare occasions- Royal 10 (glass-sider) - got one- Royal Fleetwood (mostly for the novelty) - keep looking- Hermes 3000 (Old-timers tell me it's one of the best typers ever, so I must find out for myself.) - Yep It's still my favorite- Olivetti-Underwood Lettera 32 (My old one died, and it's probably the best typer I've ever used.) - agreed, top five for sure

check out typosphere.net if you haven't already!

Thanks for the tips! O, shopgoodwill.com is going to bust me, ugh! SO many neat things. I'm definitely gunning for a Super G, though, so thanks! And maybe I'll spot a Tom Thumb, if I'm lucky. (There's one toy typewriter on there right now, but it looks like junk. Junk in a box, but still.)

There's one typewriter I saw in an office supply store years ago, in the early '80s, I think. It would have been one of the last new ones on the market. I remember it was very small and lightweight, though mostly metal, made to drop into a briefcase. I'm not sure of the brandname, but it might have been Brother. Brother did make some portable manuals, but I never found one like that, so I'm not sure. It could have also been Sears. (Rebranded from something else, obviously, but what?) I've been looking for it ever since.